Dismantling Injustice

Introducing the last episode in our summer “Staff Picks” series! Last fall, Carl sat down with Nicole Triplett, Envision Freedom's consultant on criminal legal strategy, to dive deep into the history and evolution of surveillance — from convict leasing and FBI watch lists to data scraping of our social media profiles today. The thread tying the past to the present? The desire to control certain bodies and separate them from their rights and liberties.

We interrupt our summer #StaffPick series for a special conversation with Jocelyn Simonson, professor of law, former public defender and author of the new book Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration. Carl and Jocelyn explore how ordinary individuals are sparking extraordinary change within the criminal legal system through bail funds, court watching, participatory defense and peoples’ budgets. Discover how these approaches challenge the system from within, redefine safety and reclaim the power of the people. Listen now and purchase Radical Acts of Justice today!

While Dismantling Injustice is taking a brief summer break, the Envision Freedom staff is curating a “Staff Picks” series, where we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from this past season. This week our Research & Advocacy, Zoë Adel Perry shares our conversation on the criminalization of mental health—a topic that is, unfortunately, as relevant today as it was when we released this episode in January. Whether it’s the police shooting Raul de a Cruz in the Bronx or the vigilante murder of Jordan Neely on the subway, it’s clear that violence in response to individuals experiencing mental health crises has been normalized. On this episode, Carl was joined by Jeffrey Severe from the NYC Public Advocate's Office to share Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' concerns with how we deal with mental health as a city and how we support solutions that lead to care and treatment, not violence.

Hello dear listeners, we hope you are having a restful and revolutionary summer! We are coming to you with some exciting news. While we're taking a little summer hiatus before the next season starts in the fall, we will be re-releasing some of our favorite episodes from the last season. You’ll be hearing from Envision Freedom Fund staff over the next few weeks as they reintroduce these episodes to you and we hope you will listen, listen again and share with a friend! And at the end of the summer, we’ll be back with a brand new season of conversations about how we envision and bring to fruition freedom for all people.

On this episode of Dismantling Injustice, Envision Freedom's communication manager, Julie Mente, steps in for Carl to continue unraveling the mystery of government budgets. Julie is joined by Gabriela Viera, senior advocacy manager at Detention Watch Network. They discuss the federal appropriation process - including Biden's proposed budget for the next fiscal year - and how they impact the rights and dignity of immigrants in the U.S.

In our final episode for Pride, Carl is joined by Marti Gould Cummings, an acclaimed NYC drag artist, political activist, former NYC Council candidate and one of New York State's most influential LGBTQIA+ people (City & State). Together, they discuss the disturbing criminalization of drag sweeping the nation and its profound impact on LGBTQIA+ communities and self-expression more broadly. Learn why defending drag is so essential for our larger, interconnected struggle for civil liberties everywhere. 

We kick off our series for Pride Month with a captivating conversation with Kenyon Farrow, a writer, editor, strategist, activist and the Policy VP at Point Source Youth. Carl and Kenyon go BIG in this episode - tackling everything from the urgency of ending homelessness for LGBTQIA+ youth, to criticisms of gay marriage and the need for abolition. And together they try to answer the question: what is the meaning of Pride?

On this eye-opening episode of Dismantling Injustice, we dive into the impact of the NYPD gang database on the youth of NYC. Our special guest, Anthony Posada, Supervising Attorney at the Legal Aid Society's Community Justice Unit, reveals the inherent racism of this database, how social media is being weaponized by the NYPD and how you can support legislation to #EraseTheDatabase once and for all. 

Concluding our series on Black Futures, Carl sits down with Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, to discuss one of the most destructive forces in our history: the so-called War on Drugs. Kassandra explains how the "War on Drugs" intersects with all other systems, why treating drug use as a health issue is incomplete, and what a post-war future could look like.

Notes: To learn more about Drug Policy Alliance, visit: https://drugpolicy.org/

On this episode of Dismantling Injustice, Carl speaks with Tosca Davis and Cedrick Smith, founders and co-CEOs of TO BE US Productions - a Black-owned production company with a mission to elevate Black stories. They discuss the physical impact of racism on the body (aka weathering) and the power of turning towards one another through storytelling to acknowledge this pain. 

Note: Tosca and Cedrick use their childhood photos rather than traditional head shots because they feel that these images best represent who they were before they were socialized and fully impacted by a racist, broken society. Carl joined the TO BE US team in this practice for this week's episode. 

TW: Mention of suicide

Access to effective and affordable mental healthcare has long been an issue in New York, recently rising to a higher profile in the wake of the pandemic and, most recently, Mayor Eric Adams' proposed plan to involuntarily hospitalize people who appear mentally ill. Carl sits down with Jeffrey Severe from the NYC Public Advocate's Office to discuss the criminalization of mental health in NYC. Jeffrey shares Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' concerns with Adams' plan and offers alternative solutions for mental healthcare that do not contribute to incarceration and community destabilization. Together, they discuss why jails and policing solutions will never lead to the safe and compassionate mental health treatment that New Yorkers desperately need.

On this episode of Dismantling Injustice, Carl gives us an end-of-year wrap up on 2022. This year, we fought for liberation and WON with the passage of the Stop Immigration Bond Abuse Act! Carl shares more about this exciting news along with analysis into why some of the bills we supported did not make it over the finish line this year. He also shares what angered us in 2022 - including immigration transfers from Orange County Correctional Facility, rollbacks to bail reform and fear-mongering by media and politicians. And we pause to remember the lives taken from us by the deadly institution that is Rikers Island, including the most recent death on Sunday, December 11. 

To wrap up our series on homelessess, Carl talks with Ariadna Phillips, founder of South Bronx Mutual Aid, about supporting asylum seekers in New York. Ariadna walks us through the origins of the mutual aid group during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and how this model meets community need when systems continue to fail us - including when asylum seekers were bused to New York this past summer. Ariadna tells us what this action looked like behind the scenes, the ways our government dropped the ball and how we can continue to provide support.

🚨SPOILERS AHEAD🚨 

In a special episode of the Dismantling Injustice Podcast, members of the Envision Freedom team sit down to discuss Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever. We break down the movie through an abolitionist lens - from the role of Black women in the movie (and our movement) and necessary anger, to the ways we work to actualize Wakanda in our world. It's an episode you won't want to miss!

VOCAL-NY's Keli Young, a civil rights campaign coordinator, and Celina Trowell, a homeless union organizer, talk with Envision Freedom about the connections between bail reform, pretrial detention, and homelessness. The cycle of destabilization created by pretrial detention and the cash bail system often leads to and is exacerbated by homelessness. Eliminating bail—or even reforming it— interrupts this cycle, but to make it a reality we need reject the acceptance of jails as de facto shelters and invest in remedies like affordable housing rather than disappearing people into jail.

Carl sits down with Jacquelyn Simone, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless, to discuss the predicted perfect storm for New York’s current housing crisis. From trespassing and loitering laws to encampment sweeps, NYC has a long history of criminalizing homelessness. Jacquelyn shares how this has evolved in recent years and the impact it has on real peoples’ lives. She leaves us with how Mayor Adams’ administration can begin to repair this harm and how we can all join the fight to interrupt this crisis.

Notes:

Visit https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/ to learn more about Coalition for the Homeless' work and services.

On this episode of Dismantling Injustice, Carl sits down with Nicole Triplett, senior advocacy & litigation specialist at Envision Freedom. From convict leasing and FBI watch lists to data scraping of our social media profiles, she walks us from the history of surveillance of Black communities to present day adaptations. The thread tying the past to the present? The desire to control certain bodies and separate them from their rights and liberties.

Carl is joined by Envision Freedom Fund's Zoe Adel, Angel Parker, Nicole Triplett, and Salih Israil to discuss the anniversary of George Floyd's murder, the recent outbreak of white supremacist terrorism, and the current state of the social justice movement with regard to racial justice and criminal legal system reform.

Carl provides a sneak peek at what's to come in Season Two of "Dismantling Injustice."

Carl is joined by Austin Kocher, a researcher with the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), an institute at Syracuse University that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to study the federal government. They discuss TRAC's work on federal immigration data, barriers in access, and how data can be used in the movement for immigrant rights.

In case you missed it, here's an IGLive conversation between Envision Freedom's Mustafa Jamale and Freedom to Thrive's Aje Amaechi that aired last year. Mustafa and Aje discuss the Break the Shackles campaign, the need to pass the Stop Immigration Bond Abuse Act in New York, the exploitative nature of immigration bonds, and the dangers of e-carceration and surveillance. Listen to learn how you can support the campaign!

Envision Freedom's Mustafa Jumale is joined by Amaha Kassa, Executive Director and Founder of African Communities Together. They discuss the ways private immigration bond companies harm immigrant New Yorkers and how New York State can lead the way forward through the Break the Shackles Campaign.

Envision Freedom's Zoe Adel and Angel Parker discuss the major failings of NYC Mayor Adams' "blueprint" for community safety and explore what solutions could make a difference.

Carl is joined again by Tania Mattos, Envision Freedom’s Director of Advocacy & Policy to continue their conversation about immigration with a focus on what is happening locally in the NY area.

Carl is joined by Envision Freedom’s Director of Advocacy & Policy Tania Mattos to talk about where things stand with immigration on the federal level

Carl and joined by Zoe Adel, Envision Freedom’s criminal legal advocacy manager to discuss NYC's Mayor Adams public safety strategy, which is aimed at increased punishment.

Carl and Salih share which of Envision Freedom's 2022 goals and initiatives they are most looking forward to seeing implemented in the coming months. 

A directly impacted Envision Freedom Fund Community Member sits down with an Envision Freedom Fund Freedom Fellow to discuss the real consequences of the U.S.'s unjust immigration policies and provide a deeper look into the horrible nature and impact of immigration detention.

A directly impacted Envision Freedom Fund Community Member sits down with an Envision Freedom Fund Freedom Fellow to discuss the real consequences of the U.S.'s unjust immigration policies and provide a deeper look into the horrible nature and impact of immigration detention.